Studying... @toomastudies - Tumblr Blog

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legallybrunette1997-deactivated

some more video essays

aldous huxley and brave new world: the dark side of pleasure

why bible accurate angels are so creepy

the aesthetic of evil

caravaggio: master of light

van gogh’s ugliest masterpiece

the psychology of solitude

goodfellas: the power of kinetic cinema

there will be blood: vocal control in movies

in the mood for love: frames within frames

how james gandolfini navigates emotion

the godfather - the path to self destruction

carl jung, the shadow, and the dangers of psychological projection

whiplash vs. black swan - the anatomy of the obsessed artist

analyzing the outfits in jawbreaker

the sexy vampire trope

buffy the vampire slayer: allegory of growing up

what’s so great about twin peaks

remaking suspiria: an homage to a feeling

the dreampop enigma of cocteau twins

american psycho: a message on consumerism

richard linklater: masculinity in crisis

who we really are… when everything goes wrong

jack and amy (fight club v. gone girl)

queer theory in 80s and 90s action movies

the feminine horror

how film scores play with our brains

the copycat cinema of quentin tarantino

petrichorals

“The accomplished reader, Maryanne Wolf explains, develops specialised brain regions geared to the rapid deciphering of text. The areas are wired “to represent the important visual, phonological, and semantic information and to retrieve this information at lightning speed.” The visual cortex, for example, develops “a veritable collage” of neuron assemblies dedicated to recognising, in a matter of milliseconds, “visual images of letters, letter patterns, and words.” As the brain becomes more adept at decoding text, turning what had been a demanding problem-solving exercise into a process that is essentially automatic, it can dedicate more resources to the interpretation of meaning. What we today call “deep reading” becomes possible. By “altering the neurophysiological process of reading,” word separation “freed the intellectual faculties of the reader.” Saenger writes: “even readers of modest intellectual capacity could read more swiftly, and they could understand an increasing number of inherently more difficult texts.” Readers didn’t just become more efficient. They also became more attentive. To read a long book silently required an ability to concentrate intently over a long period of time, to “lose oneself” in the pages of a book, as we now say. Developing such mental discipline was not easy. The natural state of the human brain, like that of the brains of most of our relatives in the animal kingdom, is one of distractedness. Our predisposition is to shift our gaze, and hence our attention, from one object to another, to be aware of as much of what’s going on around us as possible. Neuroscientists have discovered primitive “bottom-up mechanisms” in our brains that, as the authors of a 2004 article in Current Biology put it, “operate on raw sensory input, rapidly and involuntarily shifting attention to salient visual features of potential importance.” What draws our attention most of all is any hint of a change in our surroundings. “Our senses are finely attuned to change,” explains Maya Pines of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. “Stationary or unchanging objects become part of the scenery and are mostly unseen.” But as soon as “something in the environment changes, we need to take notice because it might mean danger - or opportunity.” Our fast-paced, reflexive shifts in focus were once crucial to our survival. They reduced the odds that a predator would take us by surprise or that we’d overlook a nearby source of food. For most of history, the normal path of human thought was anything but linear. To read a book was to practice an unnatural process of thought, one that demanded sustained, unbroken attention to a single, static object. It required readers to place themselves at what T. S. Eliot, in Four Quartets, would call “the still point of the turning world.” They had to train their brains to ignore everything else going on around them, to resist the urge to let their focus skip from one sensory cue to another. They had to forge or strengthen the neural links needed to counter their instinctive distractedness, applying greater “top-down control” over their attention. “The ability to focus on a single task, relatively uninterrupted,” writes Vaughan Bell, a research psychologist at King’s College London, represents a “strange anomaly in the history of our psychological development.””

— Nicholas Carr, The Shallows: How the internet is changing the way we think, read and remember (via luxe-pauvre)

studyspiration-coffee

The 'No Excuses' Study System to Get That A

I School Days

1. Show up to class a little early. It’ll give you time to set up, read over some old notes, put your water bottle/thermos on your desk, fill out your planner if you couldn’t in the previous period(s), check your planner to see if you have something on that day etc.

2. Sit in the front or second row. I’m serious, you will definitely benefit. Write detailed class notes. Pick whatever system works for you. I usually write my titles in red pen, notes in black pen, underline points that are repeated/emphasised, highlight keywords at home

3. If you have time at school, do as much homework as you can. If you know you have commitments that day, please for the love of your education do your homework at lunch. I know you might feel awkward, but your friends will understand.

4. When you get home, first list down all the homework received that day on a q card (cross off as you go). Then write the same tasks in your bullet journal, but as a daily spread. Use stayfocusd or self control for mac + leave phone in a different room. FINISH ALL OF YOUR HOMEWORK. If for some reason you couldn’t complete a homework task, write it on a sticky note and place it on your wall. After homework is done, write your revision notes (flashcard the info as well). Place the notes in your accordion folder/binder. If you have some loose sheets at any point, place them in a ‘To Be Filed’ box. Sort that out when you’re packing your bag for the next day.

5. Go through the flashcards made that day and the flashcards made on the previous days. List out all assignments/assessments on another q card with their due dates. This will come in handy later.

6. Pack your bag the night before. Remember your accordion folder + make sure your ‘To Be Filed’ box is empty. Put water bottle in the fridge and make meals for the next day.

7. The next day, wake up early, complete any unfinished homework, go through flashcards again, read through revision notes, make lunch for the day, put laptop in bag, put food + water in bag, exercise (esp if you have commitments after school), shower, change, blah blah blah. Only do this if your schedule is packed, and in my case, this is a must.

II Weekends

1. On Friday nights, first off, do homework. You will thank yourself for it. Whip out that list of assessments/assignments and allocate half days to knock off at least two of these little assholes. Work ahead, you will feel much better.

2. Do your readings. For English, knock off some wider reading novels, for HSIE, knock off some textbook unit readings (two units ahead), for science, knock off some more textbook readings. Write summaries of each page. Type these summaries. Print these summaries. Place in accordion folder/binder. Flashcard the info. Spend like half a day doing this lmao.

3. Spend 1-2 hours going through the flashcards you made that week for each subject. This counts as studying my friend.

III Weekends When You Actually Have Assessments

1. Due to your working ahead, homework completion and readings, you shouldn’t be panicking too much. Get those revision notes and slot in the textbook readings notes. Highlight, annotate, read aloud, go through flashcards and get someone to test you on the content. Make sure you know all terms, formulae, key concepts, vocabulary etc etc

2. As for assignments, again due to your working ahead just print them out and heavily edit those little asshats. Then type the edits into the doc. Repeat this process four times. Then get someone to read it. Make sure all your assignments are on your USB + email them to yourself because you never fucking know tbh.

3. You’ll probs have to sacrifice your reading time but that’s chill because the teacher/prof will probably be focusing on prepping you for the actual assessment + you gotta do what you gotta do.

SUMMARY

Seriously, just do your homework the day you receive it, write revision notes, do your readings, write notes on those readings, make flashcards, knock out assignments as soon as you know they actually exist, read every wider reading novel (analyse these novels), read your required readings (analyse this too), go over flashcards every morning/afternoon, make use of spare time in class, do homework at lunch if needed, stick to your schedule, buy coffee/hot chocolate in the mornings and put it in a thermos, keep a necessities pouch in your bag, keep your P.E shoes in your locker, use a planner, track your spending, wash your hair, brush your hair, go to commitments, attend school events, attend events you’re invited to, go shopping, watch movies, be kind to yourself, take bubble baths, light candles, listen to music, SLEEP, get that A and most importantly be proud of yourself.

voltaire-studies-deactivated202

How I prepare in advance for tests: Tips

Take notes while in class! That way you force yourself to pay attention to what the teacher is saying and end up retaining things easier;

Ask your teacher as many questions as you need while the new material is being taught. That will allow you to gather more information for your notes and will let the teacher know that you’re interested and paying attention. Some teachers value this and you might earn a few participation points;

After class, rewrite your notes. They don’t need to look pretty. Just organize the contents you learned so that you can understand them later. Usually, I even write small notes and examples as if I am teaching future me the contents from scratch;

Do a small revision a week before the test. That way you will have more time to fully prepare and, hopefully, you won’t feel as anxious or think that you are running out of time.

If you have anxiety and have a hard time managing it before the test, try creating an anti-anxiety plan. Write down things that help you relax (like movies, songs, activities, food) and either take some time out of your schedule to do them or incorporate them in your study. Do what you need to not let anxiety ruin your day;

One or two days before the test highlight the important things in the paper and summarize it even more (usually I can turn 6 pages into 2 where I just write the main concepts that are harder to memorize);

And that’s it! Usually, I read my notes the night before the test and review them in the morning to make sure I got everything memorized. I hope this can help some of you. Everyone has a different study method and this one got me through high-school and first of college. Try to find yours in the meantime and feel free to add more tips!

notebookist

finishing up last week's spread! as you can see, my desk gets extremely messy while i'm journaling.

productive-tips

Follow @productive-tips for more tips like this, collected and posted daily! Handpicked and curated with love ❤

nocoeurs

useful tips for students [pt.1]

conjured some tips from my personal experience or from what i have observed others doing. heads up that it’s perfectly fine if these tips may not be applicable for you. we are all different yet wonderful human beings.

general

make sure to always pack tissues like at least two packets as it bounds to get cold soon

also, pack some wipes. just in case you decide to eat greasy food or someone spills something on you. accidents happen.

keep a power bank/charger on you, in case your phone/device dies

have some emergency cash with you, wherever you go. it doesn’t have to be a lot, just enough for transport or food

have a study group chat with your peers. it will be beneficial in the long term, especially when you missed out on a lesson/lecture or you do not understand something

failure is a part of life. learn from it. learn how to pick yourself up and use it as a learning experience.

education

remember that everyone has a different preference on how they learn. what may work for them may not work for you and vice versa

do a little bit of work every day. even drafting your essay is enough.

don’t leave your work until the last minute

just avoid procrastinating. it makes you feel like shit afterwards

you don’t need to spend 65738 hours on one subject.

focus on the subject/topic that you are struggling on

it’s okay to have study burn out. make sure to take care of yourself first

and it’s absolutely okay to not being able to grasp a concept at first. even though you may be slower than the rest, remember that everyone learns at a different pace. you will get the concept eventually. your efforts will pay off.

don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it

but please don’t make fun of others when they struggle. just don’t.

not following a timetable for studying is cool

study smart child, not hard.

switch around with your study methods. find what works for you and what doesn’t. but don’t do that when you have exams nearby

it’s okay to forget stuff, mistakes happen - keep a note to yourself to not let it happen again

show up to class, you heathen

and please, for the love of bees, pay attention in class no matter how boresome or tedious you find. you are not going to learn anything through scrolling on your social media or gossiping with the person next to you

don’t procrastinate, seriously, study first then play later

reward yourself! when accomplishing something! or getting that grade that you wanted!

health

bring a snack!!! your stomach will thank you later

always bring a drink, preferably water, to stay hydrated

studying 24/7 is not healthy

self-care is a must - whether that means wearing face masks, having a day off from studying, binge watching a show, tidying up a room or even calling a friend. you need a break sometimes.

remember that you are still growing as a person

exercise! is! a! requirement!

meditate to relieve some of that tension

if you need to cry, then do so. don’t bottle up your emotions

avoid energy drinks and coffee if you are going to try to pull an all-nighter

your health, whether it’s physical or mental, is important

darling, you’re important. remember that.

[part two; finally fixed the link]

autumnstudentlife

Hello this is Nina, your local depressed college girl that’s decided to work on turning her life around and starting the new year with a more positive and happy attitude.

I know there a hundreds of similar lists and tips out there but I just thought I’d get all my favourites in one place and that way maybe motivate myself to actually follow them for once. I know my wording isn’t the best but I tried.

Here’s the few tips I’ve picked up so far and I hope they might help some of you if you are struggling a bit also:

Physical:

Space - your personal/work/study space plays a big role in making you feel productive and motivated. Doesn’t matter if its your dorm room, bedroom, office…you should make it your own as much as you can. Put a plant on your desk, get a nice picture for the wall, hang some fairy lights, get a fluffy blanket for your bed, repaint your walls in your favourite color if you can, just make it cozy and comfy and nice to look at and I guarantee you’ll start to feel better. Try to keep it clean and neat, I know it’s hard sometimes, but working in a clean space makes you ten times more productive.

Self care - start with physical things, drink those 8 glasses of water and keep a tab on it until you get used to it, use handcream everytime you wash your hands, put on moisturizer every morning and sunscreen when you go out, go for a walk around the park at least every other day, and for fucks sake go to sleep at a reasonable hour, you’ll be so grateful in the morning if you do. Show your body some appreciation.

Mental:

Take some ‘me’ time - we might we don’t have time for this, but it’s so important we make some time. First thing in the morning, during the day or before bed, just take a few minutes and relax. Put on your favourite song, burn a scented candle, drink a hot cup of tea, sit down and just breathe.

Be proud of yourself regardless - take that ‘me’ time and reflect on your day, pat yourself on the back for everything you did even if it was just getting out of bed. Life is a bitch sometimes and you should be just as proud of yourself for the little things. It’s okay to sometimes be lazy, to procrastinate, to not do anything. You aren’t a machine, you’ll burn out if all you do is work.

Appreciate the little things - on those lazy days it’s sometimes hard to not feel miserable about it. That’s when you should appreciate the little things in life. Get yourself that coffee you love so much and enjoy it, go to a roof, watch the sunset and appreciate the colors, take a photo of anything you find pretty and look back at them when you feel down…make yourself believe those moments made your whole day and suddenly it’ll feel like your life’s meaning isn’t just getting up and working/studying all the time, but enjoying everything you get to do and see in between too.

Other:

Find your interests - and stick to them!! We all like to give up on things if we aren’t immediately good at them. But no one was born an expert. And as cliché as it sounds practise does make perfect. Join a drawing class, a dance club, a writing class, get a course book on your target language, download editing softwear and play around with it, watch documentaries about your favourite subject. If you fall out of your hobby in the end it’s no big deal, but you’ll know you gave it a try and didn’t miss an opportunity to learn something new.

Journaling - this might not be for everybody, but I found it helps me clear my mind a lot to put my thoughts on paper and have everything organized in written form. I just love having all my things in one place where I can just look and see where I’m at, whether it’s plans for the day, my thoughts, my playlists, pretty pictures, anything really. It’s also a great way to be creative.

Start now - this is the most important one! Kick yourself in the ass and start taking care of yourself today! Get that glass of water right now, light a scented candle, read that book you’ve been putting off, watch that documentary about your favourite thing. Start enjoying your life right now, even if it’s only for a second, tommorow it’ll be two and three the day after and hopefully soon it’ll be a whole day.

pharmstudies

kpop study playlists

lively | melancholy | sultry | serenity

transmutetheblankpage

GUIDE: NAMING A TOWN OR CITY

This post was originally from a FAQ, but since the original link is now defunct, I am re-posting it here.

There are many things to keep in mind when naming the town or city in your novel:

1) Genre/Theme/Tone

It’s very important to consider the genre and theme of your story when choosing a town name. Take these names for example, each of which indicates the genre or theme of the story: King’s Landing (sounds fantastical) Cloud City (sounds futuristic) Silent Hill (sounds scary) Sweet Valley (sounds happy and upbeat) Bikini Bottom (sounds funny) Radiator Springs (sounds car-related) Halloween Town (sounds Halloween-related) Storybrooke (sounds fairytale-related) 2) Time/Place It’s also important to consider the time and place where your story takes place. For example, you wouldn’t use “Vista Gulch” as a name for a town in Victorian England. You probably wouldn’t use it for a town in modern day North Carolina, either. Vista is a Spanish word and would normally be found in places where Spanish names are common, like Spain, Central and South America, the southwest United States (including southern California), Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Florida. 3) Size/Settlement Type An isolated town of 300 people probably won’t be Valley City, but a sprawling metropolis of 30 million could be called Windyville, because it could have started out as a small town and grew into a large city. 4) Geography Words like gulch, butte,and bayou tend to be regional terms. You probably wouldn’t find Berle’s Bayou in Idaho, or Windy Butte in Rhode Island. Words like mount, cape, and valley are dependent upon terrain. Most of the time, you won’t have a town named “mount” something unless there are hills or mountains nearby. You wouldn’t use “cape” unless the town was on a cape, which requires a large body of water. 5) History Is there a historical person or event that your town might be named after? The Simpsons’ hometown of Springfield is ironically named after its founder, Jebediah Springfield. Chattanooga, Tennessee is named after the Cherokee town that was there first. Nargothrond, in The Lord of the Rings, is an Elvish town with an Elvish name. 6) Combination of Words

person name + geographical term = Smithfield, Smith Creek

group name + geographical term = Pioneer Valley, Settlers’ Ridge

descriptive word + geographical term = Mystic Falls, Smoky Hill

person name + settlement type = Smithton, Claraville

landmark + settlement type = Bridgton, Beaconville

Word Lists

Types of Settlements

Geographical Features

Place Words

Common Suffixes

Other Descriptors

birdkoskincare

Hi there! I’ve been staying up late to study recently, and I noticed my skin hasn’t been doing so well (breakouts, dullness). I do my basic routine of toner, AHA, lotion, and eye cream, but I don’t think that’s been cutting it! I know getting proper sleep is the best solution, but do you have any suggestions for those inevitable late nights? Thank you~

oh, love, i’m sorry to hear that! unfortunately, the deadly combo of stress, lack of sleep, and negligence regarding other necessary lifestyle aspects (i.e. healthy eating and exercise) means that exam season/busy season in school can become a perfect storm for breakouts to occur. while yes, you should strive to get as much rest as you can manage (working smarter, not harder, is the key) and to maintain an overall healthy lifestyle (it will benefit your brain and productivity, too, and prevent burnout — speaking from experience here), you can target dullness and breakouts by introducing specific actives into your routine:

dullness: consider using an antioxidant serum before your lotion/SPF in the mornings. vitamin C especially can be a great aid in combatting dullness! you can also try using hydrating masks once or twice a week; it doubles as a quiet moment of relaxation that will help reduce your stress levels. continuing your use of AHA exfoliants is a good idea.

breakouts: it can be useful to have a pimple-fighting kit containing a salicylic acid product, a spot treatment and acne patches for emergency scenarios. my faves have been the COSRX BHA blackhead power liquid (although i also hear good things abt the paula’s choice BHA and the facetheory BHA serum, both of which contain 2% BHA), the eradikate spot treatment or neogen a-clear pink eraser (although OTC BPO creams, or any other type of spot treatment of your choice, are perfectly valid), and the COSRX AC collection patches. you can also do a clay mask or exfoliating mask now and then.

overall, while these are helpful tools to have in your skincare toolkit when a situation like this rolls around, you have to remember that spending money on countless products won’t alleviate the root cause of the issue, which is the stressful circumstance — it may even aggravate it. so give your body time to adapt and heal, take care of your mental and physical wellbeing as a whole, and your skin will respond accordingly.

livelikeyoudream

academia

can we have some half-assed academia please, for those of us who want to do the bare minimum

handwriting legible only to the writer, but not in that mysterious calligraphy way, we’re talking kindergartner script

oversized hoodies, sweatpants, leggings, that one t-shirt you got during orientation, buns, braids, hairbands, bandanas, I just want my hair out of my face

all readings are pdfs, all highlighting is done in that ugly ass mustard yellow default Preview highlighter color

post-its literally fucking everywhere—on books, printouts, walls, windows, computer, etc. layered on top of each other because you keep adding to your hoard.

assignments submitted with less than a minute to go

“I haven’t started that yet lmao”

and yet, surprisingly okay GPA because procrastination is expected as well as accounted for

“Dear Professor So-and-So, I hope you are doing well. Unfortunately, I have been struggling with the latest assignment and will not be able to finish it on time. Would it be possible to get an extension? Thank you.“

Keurig/pod/instant coffee because you gotta get your caffeine somehow

cereal at midnight

“bold of you to assume i did the homework”

what do you mean color coding, all notes will be done with my trusty Zebra Sarasa Dry X20 0.7 because I got a twelve-pack from Amazon and it dries quickly and I killed my eyesight through childhood late-night reading so I require BIG BOLD LETTERS and I don’t care if it looks ugly

having too much faith in Quizlet

all the “my last two brain cells” memes

your life gradually deteriorates as the semester/quarter goes on

you walk out of your final exam content with the blissful sense of another class successfully bullshitted

luminous-studiess

a rainy day, some constitution notes, and a lot of sleepiness.

luminous-studiess

student self-care: but not necessarily the feel-good kind edition

1. what have you been procrastinating on? afraid to do? make a list. put it on your google calendar. be very honest with yourself. put every single task you have to do, schedule it, block out your calendar if you have to. it’ll help you in the long run even if it’s scary at first. 2. sort the loose papers settled at the bottom of your backpack. don’t risk losing precious class notes or syllabi or readings. use folders to classify them by subject. label them clearly. sort them by chronological order and label what class and what part of the syllabus they’re from. you’ll thank me during exam season. 3. evaluate your finances. have a way of keeping track of them. personally, i tend to spend a lot on food and coffee when i’m stressed. make a budget and stick to it. 4. if you’re struggling in a certain subject, make some time for it. i know it’s painful and easier to procrastinate, but make time. set a certain quota of pages to read. email your professor for help and consult if you have to.

5. eating healthy isn’t necessarily eating delicious. i know everyone posts their croissants and lattes and cakes (guilty) but eat that salad, eat your vegetables, eat a balanced diet. it’s brain food and it’ll sustain you and help you focus better. 6. take the time to really care for yourself. make it a routine. take daily walks, count the glasses of water you have, make sure to shower regularly. do your laundry and clean your room. take your medication regularly, schedule doctor’s appointments if you need to. your health is much more important than school, and your wellbeing will help your performance. 7. sleep is good. regular sleep is good and necessary. but know when you have to sacrifice a little sleep to get things some very hard things done. then sleep after. self-care isn’t always pretty. sometimes it’s about being disciplined and confronting what you’re afraid of. but it will make things easier and lighter for you in the long run. just one day at a time.

fleurjardin

Great cottagecore and gardencore movies

The Secret Garden (1993)

Babe (1995)

Black Beauty (1994)

Pride and Prejudice (2005)

Anne of Green Gables (1985)

Little Women (2019)

Miss Potter (2006)

Far From the Madding Crowd (2015)

Little Women (1994)

Emma (1996)

Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)

The Secret World of Arrietty (2010)

Sense and Sensibility (1995)

Heidi (1968)

Enchanted April (1991)

A Room with a View (1985)

Much Ado About Nothing (1993)

Ever After (1998)

Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)

A Good Year (2006)

The Calendar Girls (2003)

Howards End (1992)

thislivsnjutare

Classic Novels Turned Movies You Need To Watch

A Hello you guys! Here’s a list of Classic Novels Turned Movies I’ve read and watched and I thought of sharing them with you. If you have any suggestions you can always drop a message on my dm’s. Here goes;